Quintessa Wines

Quintessa wines are simply quintessential Napa — situated in the heart of Rutherford, Quintessa has established itself as a fixture in the region thanks to beautiful proprietary red blends that fully express the vast terroir of the 280-acre vineyard. Owned by Chilean wine gurus Agustin and Valeria Huneeus, the pair is committed to meticulous, biodynamic winemaking, bringing Burgundian style to Napa Valley. With a unique DNA lending itself to a magnificent proprietary red blend, Quintessa wines remain a staple within the famed region.

Quintessa Wine Napa Beginnings

Before moving to Napa Valley, Agustin Huneeus held a successful winemaking career in his home country, Chile, leading Concha y Toro to become the country's largest winery. Operated out of the capital city, Santiago, Agustin became the estate's CEO in 1960 and transformed the once-small winery into an economic powerhouse. After a decade at the helm, Agustin fled Chile due to political unrest. Regarding the move, he was quoted as saying, "We were going to go Communist and I'm an entrepreneur. I'm not political but it was not a propitious place for me to be.” It was this move that took him to the United States, where he landed a job as Seagram's head of global wine operations in New York. Responsible for 14 wineries in 9 countries. Agustin's name became ubiquitous in the global wine industry, allowing him to acquire various Napa wineries before opening Quintessa with his wife, Valeria, in 1989.

Acting as the perfect complement to her husband, Valeria's background in science brought a technical dimension to the estate. She obtained a PhD in biochemistry from Columbia University with additional expertise in viticulture and enology from the University of Chile and the University of California at San Francisco.

Stumbling upon unplanted land in the late 1980s, the pair recognized the rare opportunity presented at their feet and took full advantage. Soon enough, the 280-acre plot of land was under Quintessa's operations, and a Napa icon was born.

Quintessa Vineyard: Rutherford Terroir and Organic Farming

Quintessa vineyard is located just west of the Silverado Trail in Rutherford, surrounded by five hills and a crystal lake. Of the 280 acres of land, 100 are left unplanted to preserve the natural surrounding woodland. On the planted property, five varietals are grown — cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot, and carménère. These grapes are split into 26 blocks with each undergoing individual vinification as part of the team's meticulous processes.

Before purchasing the land, Quintessa had never experienced vine plantings or crop plantings of any kind, leaving the Huneeus family with a unique experience to experiment with the soils. Since first planting vines 35 years ago, the pair estimates that 30% of the original plantings have been replanted, leading them to label their efforts as "terroir liposuction." With the help of winemaking wizard, Pedro Parra, and former Petrus winemaker, Jean Claude Berrouet, the couple operated on a trial-and-error method, which eventually led to its current plots.

“Quintessa should be farmed in a way that is respectful to the land as a living entity.” -Valeria Huneeus,

The terroir is unique in that it contains a variety of soils and microclimates, from white volcanic ash and silty loam to high humidity in the slopes and cool temperatures near the lake. Before Napa's slope ordinance prohibiting plantings on slopes greater than 30% was passed, the Quintessa team was able to plant on the undulating hills, adding a unique spark to the final blends. Furthermore, the team has committed to biodynamic and organic methods from the beginning, as both were very important to Valeria. Her philosophy is one of nurturing the land, which has meant that no pesticides or preservatives have touched Quintessa's vineyards, while owls were housed on the land to protect against pests and cows graze the land to provide natural fertilizer.

Quintessa Red Wine: "Burgundy in Napa"

With a strict, meticulous approach to winemaking, the Huneeus family has described their processes as "Burgundy in Napa," a stark contrast to the high-production, Bordeaux-influenced estates throughout the rest of the valley. Rather than creating multiple labels, Quintessa focuses on putting the highest-quality grapes into one each vintage. The Quintessa cabernet sauvignon is more accurately a red blend of the five varietals grown on the vineyard. According to Pedro Parra, the vineyard's terroir is so diverse that careful attention to detail is needed to properly express the property. With an all-hands-in approach to one wine, there are different amounts of each varietal in every vintage. One year may be cabernet dominated while the next may have higher amounts of merlot. Despite the variation, each regularly receives high ratings from scores, illustrating the successful approach this team takes.

Across each year, the fruit is harvested in the morning before being sorted and fed into oak, stainless steel, and concrete vats for vinification. After vinification, the wines are aged separately for up to 2 years in French oak before undergoing an additional year of aging in the bottle. Once this time has occurred, the wine is finally released for public consumption. 

Experience Quintessa Napa Valley Red Wine

As a unique Napa staple, Quintessa wines are a standard for red wine lovers looking for Burgundian-styled blends from a Napa Valley terroir. Expressing the traditional minerality of Rutherford wines, Quintessa bottles have been described as elegant, harmonious, and long-lived. From the 99-point 2018 vintage to the " evolved, seductive, round, generous 2010" bottle as described by Robert Parker, every bottle is sure to excite and surprise drinkers. Shop our collection and add a bottle to your cellar today.